UK - What is the process?

[CharlotteCD]

I've heard all sorts over the years, and I don't know what's fact and fiction.

What is the "order" of doing things, as I've heard everything from you see a gender therapist and then wait for an appointment to get hormones, to you have to live as a woman for two years and then you would be put on a waiting list etc.

So gender therapist, local gp, gender clinic, hormones... What's the ACTUAL UK situation and timings?

[Teresa]

Charlotte,
I'm assuming the question relates to the road to transition ?

As far as I'm aware it usually starts with a referral from your GP , at least that's how I started when I saw a gender counsellor . Living full time as a woman may have been changed but I feel it's possibly a good idea so you can find a balance with dressing and being comfortable in public and in a work situation . That maybe as far as some wish or need to go , I'm perfectly OK with that at the moment .

Hormones on the NHS will usually be prescribed through a gender clinic but again no one can stop you self medicating , I know a few who have taken that route because they can't wait for the NHS , obviously the down side is if anything goes wrong you don't have the same safety net .

I consider myself too old now for full transition if I go the NHS route because it will make me nearer 80 assuming it all goes smoothly , it must be considerd what if it doesn't .

The best option is talk to your GP first to get the full picture , I've found them very supportive but please be patient .

[Marie-Jo]

If you look at this site you will find a lot of information.
www.gendergp.com
it is a British GP specialized in transgender treatments.

[Teresa]

Marie,
I'm not too sure about it's true credentials , I'll take a closer look . The important point is all the items listed are available on the NHS if you are prepared to wait in the UK .

[Marie-Jo]

Teresa
Exactly, there are lots of information, a simple source to NHS information and a lot of the procedures around all processes. You can also find a lot of information about recent legal aspects, for example about HRT for young persons and the high judges opinions about their capacities and the proceedings from that.

Yes, GenderGP is questioned by some interested parties that rather want to see GenderGP out of practise. That is quite a different issue that I do not have any interest of. I am not buying their treatments or prescriptions.

Gender GP has a Blog with interesting thoughts from a transgendered therapeut that may be worth a visit. Some material about voice change and therapy etc.

[Teresa]

Marie,
My TS friend had more information on Dr. Helen Webbberley who founded GenderGP , she assures me she OK but pricey for some services . Apparently she was pulled up officially for her online consultations .

The grey area is how her services tie in with the NHS .

Charlotte,
My TS friend advised you first consult your GP to discover how the NHS can help you and how quickly , hormones can be a grey area so it might be advisable to let the NHS guide you on assessment and subsequent dosage . If you then want to fast track it GenderGP or equivalent agencies will be there to help but obviously at a price .

[CharlotteCD]

Sounds like the best option all round. I think i just need to know more in order to be able to say to myself at least I know how to progress if things change.

I don't suppose you know if there's any way of having this conversation without it going on my permanent GPs record?

[Teresa]

Charlotte,
I made the decision that if I wanted help from my GP I had to level with him/her , if you are TG be prepared to admit it otherwise you could confuse them and just go round in circles . After I moved my new GP only met me as Teresa , so she has no idea what the man looks like . I went for a hearing test referral but she was more concerned about my gender issues and informed me her door was always open if and when I wanted to go further . Sadly she's now left the practice , I've met her replacement , I think he has a soft spot for blonds as he didn't stop smiling at me but he did send me for an X-ray on my feet to check how bad the arthritis is in my toes , yes I did go for the X-ray as Teresa .

[CharlotteCD]

I guess it's a bit "piss or get off the pot" really isn't it. I don't know, I've been toying with all sorts of ways to express this that don't involve impacting on my family and friends.

I'll work it out in time I'm sure.

[Teresa]

Charlotte ,
Trust your doctor , it's what they're there for .

Our social group was asked to give a talk on our experiences with the NHS to a delegation of NHS staff . Three of us took part , the lecture theatre was full and I talked for well over ten minutes without notes on my good experiences I've had . I admitted to the chairperson after that I'd never stood up before and spoken publicly and certaily not in a LBD , wedges , wig and full makeup . As we took our seats we got a standing applause , that was a wonderful moment because it showed we were recognised and repected for making the gender issue clear .

Please start to believe in you , you will be repected for it and prove some of your fear were groundless .

[pamela7]

your GP will refer you to your local gender clinic. then you'll join an exceedingly long waiting list. I was referred in feb 2016 and I still have not met the pro psych to be properly evaluated - the list is long and slow. however, after a first meet with a clinic therapist you can get your gp to give you hrt if they're qualified so to do, which I did, after about 18 months wait. the option of a private psychiatrist is pretty impossible, so signing-off has no shortcuts here.

[CharlotteCD]

That feels all the more disappointing when I see you're also a SW England poster :(

[Teresa]

Charlotte,
I feel the important point is it doesn't stop you being Charlotte as it doesn't stop me being Teresa and getting on with my life , I have friends who have chosen to self medicate , I don't feel it's the correct route but thet felt they couldn't wait but they aren't any happier than me .

[CharlotteCD]

Given a medical history of blood cancer, brain haemorrhage and joint replacements, I am very wary of hormones full stop. I feel like my body struggles to work as designed on a good day, let alone when we're throwing an imbalance into the mix.

[pamela7]

then i would not under-estimate how much hrt deteriorates muscle strength and places unexpected stresses on the body.

[abbiedrake]

Ladies.
long time, no speak.
I've been on HRT for nine months now.
Charlotte, if medical transition might be for you, you can try the first coupla months without irreversible side effects.
I circumvented the long wait by contacting Gender GP. Cost me ?200 to register and get an appointment known as an Information Gathering Session with one of their therapists. The details she took, along with the history I'd already given online, were enough for their clinical team to diagnose gender dysphoria and prescribe my hormone regime.
It took eight weeks from first contact to a script in my hand.

Have I wobbled? Yeah ofc. Imposter syndrome is very real, as are the hardships of early transition in an unrelentingly harsh cisgender society.
But it was still the right decision.

As for the NHS GIC well I'm in the waiting list. And even before Covid the wait time for a first consult was 30 months. Jeezus.
The only good news is that by then I'll have been on hormones three years so most of the effects of that will be as good as they're gonna get bar some additional fat redistribution. And that I'll have been living as a woman way longer than is required to access SRS.
My hope is to walk in and batter the hell out of them from the get go for a surgery date.
Yeah, I'm that sure.

Meanwhile electrolysis..
Sigh. Costly, painful, just a nuisance all round. Fortunately my electrolygist got special dispensation to work during the pandemic on us trans girls. Woot. Granted it's costing me ?60 a week and I need meh about two hundred sessions. Yeah. Really.

Feel free to ask anything.

- - - Updated - - -

Teresa the complaint against Heen Webberley was unfounded. She was back practising before long

Oh and a final point about Gender GP... They charge ?30 a month subscription. Oof. So... I opted to let them lead my GP in prescribing. Got that established a couple of months then cancelled the sub. My GP still prescribed my estrogen, progesterone and finasteride, but I pay no-one.
There are ways to beat the system.